Butter-dispensing apparatus.



M B .D- STRAIGHT.A A BUTTER DISPENSING APPARATUS. A V APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22| 19,15. 1,146,972, a Patented July 20,1915. A s'sHEETs-suEl-:TL

B. D. STRAIGHT.; BUTTERDISPENSING'APPAHATUSf APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22. 1915. j1 13,146,972, f Patentedjuly 20, 19155.-

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BUTTER D|SPENS|NG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FlLEp MAR. 22|`1915 1,146,972. patented July 20,1915.

5 SHEETS-SHE'ET 3.

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witness@ I B. n. STRAIGHT.

BUTTER DISPENSING APPARATUS.

APPLTCATION FILED MAR. 22. 1915.

Patented July 20, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

B. n. STRAIGHT.

BUTTER, DIPENslNG A'PBARATUS APPLICATION FILED MAR. .22, 191,5.

Patented Julyeo, 1915.

I 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Gwibneooao Suva/nto@ BENNETT D. STRAIGHT,A OF ROCHESTER, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ROCHESTER MONETOR COMPANY INC., OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

"State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inButter- DispensingApparatus; and I do hereby declareV the following to be a full,l clear, and exact descriptionl of the same, reference being :had to theiaccompanying drawings, forming. a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

paratus, and has for its object t afford certain improvements intendedespecially fory furnishing relatively small portions or patties of butter from a larger mass of butter, the machine being designed for use in lunch rooms, hotels, restaurants, and similar places where it is desirable to vproduce a large number of individual servingsvof butter.

-A further' object ofthe invention is to providegffor automatically discharging a patty-onto anempty plate, the plate having been brought into'position toreceive the patty, prior to its discharge, so that it can be readily removed from-the machine.

Another purpose of the invention .resides in constructingv and arranging the parts in such a manner-asino result'i-n a maximum speed of operation-land degree of-efciency, together with simplicity ofpartswhich obviates to a large extent likelihood of disarranging the'mechanismA when operated by unskilled hands. I i.

To these and other. endsthe invention consists incertain improvements andfcombinations of parts, all as will `be hereinafter Vmore fully described, the i novel features being pointed out in'the'claims'at the end ofthe` specification. n l n In the drawingszgFigure" lis a side elevation of amachin'e equipped with one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a verti- -cal sectionl -view showing theicontrolling Speeiication of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2o, i915.

v 'I Application led March 22, 1915. Serial No. 16,053.

similar view, the section being filled with plates;v Fig. 6 is a plan view with the plate carrier removed; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the plate carrier support; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the plate carrier and butter container; Fig. 9 is a side elevation, showing the cutting member; Fig. l0 is a sectional view through the butter compartments; Fig. 1l is asectional"l view showing the plate supporting device, and Fig. 12 is asimilar view showing the position of the plate supporting The invention relates to a dispensing apdevice in the act of releasing an empty plate. Similar reference characters throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

n The invention set forthin this 'application may be` carried out in ,various ways other than the particular embodiment herein 4shown anddescribed and it is to be under-v stood that the mechanism illustrated and describedin detail is intended merely as one exemplication of means by which the desired result may be accomplished.

In the illustrations, l designates the base on which'is mounted a circular supporting frameor drum-2 in which is mounted a container 3 for the butter, .or other material to be dispensed, within which operates an ejector. vThe latter comprises a follower 4 mounted' on the piston 5, provided with a containerB isclosed by a sliding top plate 7, which is movable for a purpose that will appear hereinafter, and at its forward end the container 1s provided with a neck 8 which is tapered,as shown', and forms Va reduced or .restricted ndischarge opening 19' through which the material is ejected. The ejector 4 'is controlled in its movement by suitable actuating means which, in the present embodiment of the invention, comprises a rock arm 10 fixed on a shaft 11 and-carrying a bpivoted pawl 12 controlled by a spring 13 3 and arranged to advance the plunger 4a predetermined Adistance at each oscillation `16 which is fixed thereon and is adapted to be depressed and elevated once for each operation. The normal position of the arm 10 appearsin Fig. 3, and Fig. 2 shows its posi- -tion after it has'engaged the rack barand moved the ejector the required distance. Owing to the -reduction in size ofthe dis- 5 charge opening 9, and the comparatively large area of the ejector, a veryfelight movejment of the latter issufficient to force f through the discharge opening a sufficient quantity of butter .for an individual service.

1'0 Owing to the peculiar resilient character of a 'substance like'butterfwhen subjected to pressure, there is a tendency for 1t to resume its normal 4or expanded condition prior to the application of pressure and this tendency has the effect of moving the, ejector rearwardly slightly, after pressure on the handle 16 released.' With this in view the ejector isfreed from the actuator and permitted to make a partial return movement to .ac` 20 commodate the expansiveaction. of the butter. In practice this is"accomplished byar ranging the parts, as follows. 'Assuming thatif the ejector moves through thei'dis tance of one notch on the rack bar to"dis' charge a single patty, the parts will -be so proportioned as to cause the arm 10 to -move the rack bar through a distance slightly greater than the length of one notch, and possibly asmuch asa notch and a half and when the arm 10 is disengaged, tli'e ejector will be returned until its totaltravel is equal to only one notchand the rack bar will be in such position'that the pawl 12 willengage the next succeeding tooth of the rack on the following operation. After the ejectingopi eration is complete, it is desirable to separate the ejected'portion from the main body of the mass, and for rthis purpose I' employ a cutting member that movabletransversely .40 of the discharge opening and is preferably controlled by the ejector actuating means be fore described, whereby the .operation of the.

cutting member is effected after each f oi-, ward movement of the ejector. Thecutting 4.5 member operates on its advance stroke to.

cut or separate the patty or .individual portion from the main body of materiahand on its return stroke to knock the severed portion away from the body of material, causing-it.

to fall into an empty plate 'which is brought into position in a manner that will presently be described, and in order to accomplish this the cutting member is given a quicky return movement, while its advance. or cutting stroke is. comparatively slow. The cutting member is preferably'formed by a wire 17 .moving in a path in front of lthe discharge opening 9 of the compartment, and to this end it is mounted on a sliding yoke member ,19 which is reciprocated by -aV rod 20, the

latter being pivotally mounted on a fixed axis 21. lCarried on the rod 20 is a pivoted lever 22 yieldinglv held in one position by 1a spring 23, as shownA in Fig. 2`.--The.l ower' end of thef'lever 22 carries a'tail piece 24 and islprovided with a shoulder 25 which co- .operates with a projection 26 on the armlO.

-When theparts are in the normal position, as shown in Fig. 3, the projection 23 is disengaged from the shoulder 25. .On the downward movement of lever 16, the arm 10 advances the ejector, and at the limit of suchV `movement, it assumes substantially the vposition shown in full lines in Fig. 2, where the projection 26 has engaged beneath-'the shoul-v` der 25. lOn the return or upward stroke of lever -16, vthe latch engagementA between the shoulder l25 and projection 2G causes the, lever 22 to be moved upwardly, thereby rocking the rod 20 about its axis 21 and impart-- ing a corresponding downward movement to the cutting member l17. The upward move- '-ment of the lever 22 is sufficient to cause ther cuttingmem'ber to entirely traverse the discharge opening 9, and by the time the cutting member has'reached its lowermost position, the arm 10 will have traveled far enough -on its return vmovement to carry the 'projection 26 past the shoulder 25, and when this disengagement takes place the rod 20 is returned quickly to its initial lposition by means of a spring 27 which is connected to the rod and toa stationary part of the ma'- chine. The action of spring/27 effects a quick return movement of the cutting meinber 17 which thereby disassociates` the patty from the material inthe compartment and causes'it to fall onto the empty plate which is provided'. 1

In order to receive each of the discharged portions of `material-on a plate I- employ a -mechanism controlled by the ejector actuating meansl which operates automatically to feed an empty plate to a:.point beneath the dischargeopening prior to each operation of the cutting member.v 1n accomplishing this I employ. a stationary, support, a-,plate maga.- zine and plate feeding devices working in conjunction with the -ejector and cutter. If

' desired'a plurality of magazines may be pro* vided, which arelprefer'ably arranged on a rotary carrier, comprising a base or support 28pmovably supported on the fianged rollers ;29vs ecured to the frame 2. The vsupport 28 `carriesia series of plate holding sections 30 arranged adjacent ,to an interior chamber31 and insulated by outer double walls 32, the

space between which may be filled with any suitable insulating j substance: The space 'between the respective plate holding magazines and around the innervchamber 31 is adapted to be filled with ice, or other refrigcharge point where theyr rest upon a pair most plate ofthe tier of plates in such a.

of arms 35 in conjunctibn .with a flange 36. A chute 37 leads from a point beneath the arms 35 to a stationary support 38 disposed beneath the discharge opening 9 Aand in rear of an opening 3 9 in .the drum 2, through which the plate may be removed after it is filled. The'arms 35 constitute an escapement coperating with the lowermanner as to release it before each operation ofthe cutting member. Each of the .arms V35 carries an extension or tail piece 40 which operates with the plateabovethe one discharged to preventits removal, said arms being mounted on a rock shaft 41' which is held in normal position, as shown in Fig. 11, by a spring 42, and carries a .lever 43 having a roller 44 arranged t0 be' engaged bythe main lever 16, when the latter is operated. Thus when the lever A16 iis depressed the shaft 41 is rocked tothe position shown in Fig. l2, to release the bottom plate into the chute .37 along which it gravitates onto the support 38 into position to receive the discharged portion of the rnaterial. The extensions 40 of the escapement arms engage the neXt adjacent plate and in conjunction with the flange 36, prevent its removal, holding it until the arms 35 have beenraised far enough to rengage'the tier vof plates, after which the parts arelin readieach plate holding magazine. The weighted end of: the arm is held, rafised by engage'- miehtlf the plate with the inner end of the arm, and when the vlast platel has been delivered the outer end ofthe arm drops to vthe. position shown in Fig'. 4 where it is engaged by an intermittently operated member which thereby rotates the carrier lfar .enough to bringanother plate' magazine into feeding position. -Fo'r this purpose, ,a lever 46 is provided pivoted at-47 and conlnect'edfto the shaf't 11 yby a suitable connection 48 whichis loosely secured to the lever 46 Aand to anarm 49 on the -shaft 1 1: By this mechanism, the,V lever 46 is moved past one of the arms45 at each operation of themain lever v16, and if the arm 45'is in the position shown in Fig. 4, the lever 46, on its return movement, engages the `arm 45 and.

rotates the plate carrier a distance corresponding to the space between adjacent plate magazines. .The lever 16 is returned ofi1 slide 52a by hand, its forward toits normal position a spring 50 and l its upward or return'movement is limited by a stop 51;

.'Relatively large quantities of the butter are supplied to the machine and contained in the main magazine 52 which is preferably removable, but is associated with the compressing compartment 34 so that 'the latter may be conveniently lilled-.periodically. The lower kend of the magazine is closed by a slide or cut off 52a, guided in ways`52". The cover 7 of the compartment 3 lies directly beneath the cut off, slide. vWhen the compartment 3-is empty it is necessary to' withdraw the slide and top member and also to retract the ejector 4 to its normal position. In order to effect this movement the top 7 'is provided with a cross headv15 ldepending in rear of the ejector'4 and connectedlto a sleeve 14 guided on the pistonf5. 'Operating connections are provided between lthe member 7 andtheprime mover 16 comprising a connecting bar 54 journaled on the shaft 11 and having a slot andpin connection, as indicated at 57, With'the rock arm 10 whereby a limited oscillatory movement of the latter is permitted independently of the arm 54. The outer end of the latter is provided with a pin 55 which reciprocates in a slot 56 in the cross head 15. By this arrangement of the parts it will be observedl that when the stop 51 is removed from the path of the lever 16 abnormal upward. movement of the lever will cause the arm 54 to retract the top plate or cover 7 of the compressing compartment. The cover 7 carries'on its., upper side a pin 60 which coperates with the cut and on its lower edge it is provided with theshoulder62 which engages the ejector 4 and simultaneous retraction of the cut off slide and ejector isaccomplished by the opening movement of the cover 7.

After the compartment 3 has been filled `the rotation of the lever` 16 to the' normal posltion shown in Fig. l closes the cover 7 `therebyseparatingthe' smaller portion of the mass in the container 3 from the-body of material Iin'the magazine52 and the .slide 52'maybe-mov'ed-into its normal position vinclined end moving over lthe surface'of the cover7'and serving Y tol elevate-the mass of butter in the magazine and serving A'as a` support therefor, should it be desired to remove the latter. In practice the slide 52%is permitted to re main in th'e open position until the contents -of the magazine 52 are exhausted and as the whenever the s'lide7 is withdrawn.

A yielding connection between the -shaft -1l and the arm 49 is provided to permit the rotation of the shaft 11 in a reversed directionv'vlien the above described operations are lcontents of the magazinel are underpressure 4 -vof the.W eight 53 it will move .downwardly performed, said connections comprising a coil 'spring 49, which holds lthe lever 49 against a stop projection 49h on the shaft.

Plastic material, especially butter, inthe mass possesses such a c'oelicient elasticity that itis diiiicult'to measure ofi successive small portions of equal size When a 'large portiony ci the materialto be dispensed isl put .f under-1 pressure and to overcome this diiiculty'g'fhave provided the above described mechanism Wherebys'mall portions of the material may be separated" from the larger source of supply, vand bereceived and re tained-in a separate compartment and there subjected to thev pressure wlich will -causeit tolovvoutvvard. j

When the container 52 is emptyitis removed-l and a full container -insertedg-fAfter 'thejem'pty plates are entirely ei'li'austed from lthe plate carrier it is rechargedby inserting plates from the top. While I havel shovvna specific embodiment of the inven- 'tion`,`it' is to be understood that it is'not lim ited scope to the present disclosure, inas mu'chasl the various coperative elements maybe modified and departed from as to structure Without eecting the principle outV operation involved, or the purposesintended claims j appended hereto.

IfclaimV as my invention: o 1'.v Inl adispensing apparatus, the combi` nationwith a containerfhaving a discharge tof-be accomplished, as contemplated by the l at Opening, of an eieCtOl movable fhereinz'ai cutting member traversing the discharge opening, a, plate'` supportl arranged beneath the latter, a rotary 'plate carrier arranged labove .thev support. having a plurality of Y plateholding sections, said .carrier being [automatically rotated when the plates in one.

section are Nexhausted to bring another sectionofvplates into operative position, and

feeding 'instrumentalities operating to reflease a plate from thecairier at each operation'of the cutting member'. j ,-32.11111 a dispensing apparatus, the combi- "nation with a container vhaving adischarge opening, of an ejector movable in the container, a cutting member traversing the dischargefopening, a stationary plate support.

arranged. beneath the discharge opening, a

' rotaryplate carrier arranged above thejsupport,"'hav`ing lva plurality of plate holding i Sectionson" the carrier the Carrier being.

automatically rotated lwhen the plates in one sectionxare exhausted;v to bring another sec- `tinfof plates -into operative position` and plate retaining'means cooperating with the plates on the 'carrier to-hold them, said retaining meansincluding a releasing device movable to release. the lowermost plate at each operation of the cutting member.

'3. A magazine for dlspensing machines" comprising a casing-having a central ,com-.

partment adapted to receive a container and ,forming a surrounding chamber adapted to contain a cooling medium, and plate compartments located in said chamber.

' 4. A 4magazine forl dispensing machines,

comprising a casing having outer-and inner ed to receivefa pontainer and a surrounding chamber, and a plurality of separate com- .partments adapted to receive plates, disposed in said chamber.

-78 Walls forming an inner compartment adapt- 5. A butter dispensing machine compris?.

inga supply container, a discharge compartment having an outlet, means Jfor expelling 'butter from the latter "and a chamber containing a cooling medium arranged 'relatively to the container and compartment and disposed to maintain alower temperature in the container than that of the compartment.

6. A butter dispensing machine compris-X- I .ing a supply container, a discharge compartmenthaving. an outlet, means for expelling the"butter from the `latter and a chamber containing a` cooling medium arranged relatively to thecontainer and compartment and disposed to maintain a lower temperature in the container than that of the compartment,

and a plate magazine.located contiguous to said chamber..

7. Ina dispensing machine, the 'combination with a container adapted to hold a quantity of butter, of a discharge compart-` ment having an outlet and adapted to hold a relatively smaller quantity of butter, aslide for cutting off and separating the tWopor# tions of the mass of butter and means forv p'artment.

. 8. In a 'dispensing machine, the combina` tion with a' container having a discharge opening at one end, of a slide movable acrossone end of the container in proximity to said opening and separating the material within the container into twoparts, means for expelling one oflsai'd lparts through the discharge `opening and means, for maintaining the other part of said materialat) a lower temperature. .4 A j 9.- In a .dispensingginachina the combination `vvith a container; having a discharge opening, and a' slide for "separating from'. the body 'of the material in ,the container a relatively smaller portionthe vicinity ofsaid opening, 'of an. ejector -coperating with `the latter -to expel 'the`l material therethrough and amember or'operating the ejector also arranged to control the slide. 10. In a dispensing machine,the combinaltin with a container having a discharge expelling. the.4 smaller portion from -its'conb and a slide for separating from the body ofl the inaterial a relatively smaller portion in the lower end of the c0ntainer, of an ejector in said lower end of the-container, means for advanclng 1t and means for forcing materlal 10 `in the lupper portion of the container into its lower end When the slide is Withdrawn.

\ BENNETT D. STRAIGHT. Witnesses:

G. WILLARD RroH,

RUSSELL B. GnIFFITH. 

